In which my attempts at organization bear fruit…

Last week my issue of Kraft Food and Family arrived. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s a monthly magazine mailed free to – I guess – anyone that wants it within the US. It’s Kraft’s way of getting to buy folks to their product. I used the receipt of the magazine as an incentive to get back into mealplanning, which really saves me a lot of trouble and heartache during grocery trips and at night when BHE and I are cooking dinner.

The magazine is very hit or miss, especially now that I have been getting it for about 3 years. There is a tendency to repeat recipes, and you have to gloss over the too-many pages of DiGiorno ads. About half the recipes call for Deluxe Mac N’ Cheese dinner, which does not seem to be a healthy or tasty choice for my family. The other half are very hit or miss recipes.

But sometimes you do get a hit (which I blogged here, while also mentioning a big miss). Last week I made Taco Salad Bowls, which BHE and I both loved – but I did make some modifications – we used wheat tortillas vs. flour; I used ground chicken, not ground beef (ground chicken is cheaper), and I added a touch of ranch to the dressing. Also, we topped ours with avocado, which I strongly recommend. My tortilla bowls didn’t quite come out right, but they were very tasty. The tortilla bowls also help you control portion size, which can be quite helpful.

Last week we also made Pulled Chicken Sandwiches – I didn’t really change the recipe with the exception of swapping “real cheese” for the Kraft Singles (I cannot stand Kraft Singles) and using a harvest grain baguette versus a traditional one (we don’t really eat white bread in my house). I served my own herbed potato salad with it – and I am going to brag now, because my potato salad rocks.

Both these meals were pretty tasty, and made enough for us to eat leftovers the next day – a big plus in my book.

The only letdown was the Easy Creamy Baked Asparagus, which we served with steak – it wasn’t bad; just kinda “Meh.” I’d rather grill or sautee asparagus.

We’re trying Ham N’ Cheese Calzones – likely with a salad on the side – tonight (update: calzones were good, and would be a good base recipe from which you can just swap fillings. I ended up making a broccoli/carrot slaw instead of a standard salad). I hope the boys will try this one too. Update: Bear ate his all up; Monkey didn’t even try it. Kinda the standard here on Awesome Avenue.